There are already known mechanisms, by means of which various stacks, for example arranged according to the plate strip size, can be handled immediately in succession. Already known in the art is a plate shear with a supporting device, which is displaceable beyond the stacking places into a release position. A stop member is displaceable synchronously with the movement of said supporting device. A further development of this arrangement comprises a supporting member with a carrier member which acts under the influence of a control means. The plate strip, cut to size, is received by the supporting rake, and during the subsequent horizontal movement the supporting rake together with the plate strip and stop member is accelerated. At the same time, the plate strip slides on the supporting rake until the rear plate edge comes up against the carrier member. The carrier member, which has meanwhile moved out of the effective range of the control means, falls down as a result of its own weight, but is caught by means of the upper bent hook end on the edge of the plate strip inserted under it and carries the plate strip along with it. Shortly before the stop member has reached the stacking place intended for the plate strip, a deceleration occurs, and during this deceleration, the supporting member and the stop member are decelerated in such a way that the plate strip on the supporting member executes a relative movement towards the stop. The rear edge of the plate strip should thereby leave the upper bend hook end of the carrier member. Said carrier member falls down onto the stop in the supporting member as a result of its own weight and will assume the position of rest. The stop member remains at the predetermined position, whilst the supporting member continues its rearward movement, accelerates again, until it is retracted completely from the region of the stacking pile. The plate strip retained by the stationary stop member falls onto the stacking pile provided.
However, a disadvantage of this arrangement is that the supporting member first has to be accelerated, then decelerated in the region of the stacking pile and subsequently accelerated again. It is usually necessary for a pause to be included at the stacking point. A further disadvantage is that it is not possible to ensure that the hook-shaped end of the carrier member swings down perfectly, so that the plate strip is often not released by the carrier member and, during the further movement of the supporting member, the plate section clamped between the stop member and the carrier member is compressed. Finally, perfect centering of the plate stack cannot be achieved.